TPVD: Cartography application for public transportation in Vaud, Switzerland

TPVD (Public Transportation in Vaud) is an interactive cartography application that visualizes dynamically the number of potential users of each bus, train, and metro station in the Vaud region in Switzerland. It was developed by Lucas Martinez and Nicolas Vallotton during the course Visualisation de données given by Isaac Pante at UNIL.

How to use the application?

TPVD is composed of two parts:

  • A map of the Vaud region on the left, that is possible to navigate through and zoom in and out.
  • Sliders and a graph on the right.

Map

The map is composed of three elements:

  • An openstreetmap map in order to locate geographically.
  • A heatmap of the density of the population, as an indicator of the density of the population in order to distinguish densely populated areas.
  • Points representing public transportation stops divided into three categories that allow to appreciate their spatial distribution following three circular buffer zones.

Sliders and graph

The sliders make it possible to change the radius of the buffer zones around the stops for each category of them.

By placing the cursor over a stop on the map, a circle indicating the size of the buffer zone, the name, and the number of potential users appear.

One can display a graphic of the number of potential users  depending on the radius of the buffer zone by clicking on the stop.

Target audience

TPVD is mainly aimed at professionals in the field of transport, land use planning or policy makers, as they may need to cross data on public transport and the potential users depending on different distances to public transportation stations. It is a fast and simple way to appreciate the overall service of public transportation stops in different contexts such as:

  • The primary analysis of the efficiency of a stop / public transport line.
  • Planning new lines for poorly connected areas.
  • The assessment of the attractiveness of new residential spaces with respect to public transportation.

More about TPVD

You can use the application at https://nvlm.github.io/.

For a more exhaustive information about the application you can visit the github page of the work.